Tag Archives: memoir

My mother-in-law Nancy planted the orchard in 1982, and she has tended to it for all these years, slowing down only recently. (She is, after all, ninety-three years old; that’s her above in the 1990s.) This year, heat and drought … Continue reading →

This is the road I walk along nearly every morning. Sometimes I walk in a mindful way, trying to notice everything around me, and sometimes I listen to podcasts or let my thoughts wander where they will. Letting thoughts wander … Continue reading →

When I was a child, I had trouble choosing books…and it occurs to me I still do. I think then, as now, it was because I felt overwhelmed by the wide array of possibilities. There were just too many titles … Continue reading →

The night before last I slept long and soundly, and I am someone who views a good night’s sleep as quite a happy accomplishment. I even dreamed, and as usual I remember the dreams only as an irrational and inconclusive … Continue reading →

The picture above was taken at the end of December, 1981. I love the little paper sign: “Make sure the storm door is SHUT.” It’s a mildly chiding reminder, the upper case letters conveying the exasperation of someone who has … Continue reading →

I didn’t always know what street I was on, but I noticed stones and glitter embedded in the concrete, and sidewalk cracks to be avoided, and the chalky numbers of hopscotch games. I remember the glow of neon lights reflected … Continue reading →

The Thomas Fire is raging to the south of us with no end in sight. The air is filled with smoke and ash, and we have friends who have been evacuated. These are anxious times. But until I have some … Continue reading →

He was my brother, and the country of childhood was a tangled one, fraught with discord and shadowed by mystery. Dangers loomed, whether real or imagined, and tranquil moments could not entirely be trusted, for they were as delicate as … Continue reading →

It was a last-minute invitation, and I said yes. My friend Linette and her sister Luanne were driving up to Oregon to see the total eclipse. There would be one overnight stop in Gilroy, where Linette’s sister-in-law lives, onward to … Continue reading →

Many years ago, while on the road to Chicago from Michigan’s upper peninsula, I looked up into the sky and glimpsed a rippling curtain of pale pinkish light, and it was the Aurora Borealis. It is therefore technically correct to … Continue reading →